PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi has gotten some blowback for comments she made about the way women snack.
In an interview with Freakonomics Radio that posted last week, Nooyi said that when young men eat chips, in particular Doritos, they “lick their fingers with great glee, and when they reach the bottom of the bag, they pour the little broken pieces into their mouth.”
Nooyi added that “women I think would love to do the same, but they don’t. They don’t like to crunch too loudly in public. And, you know, they don’t lick their fingers generously and they don’t like to pour the little broken pieces and the flavor into their mouth.”
Nooyi said in the interview that the company is looking into snacks that can be designed and packaged differently for women, and that they’re getting ready to launch some of them soon. Attributes, she said, include “low-crunch,” “not have so much of the flavor stick on the fingers,” and be portable in a purse.
This is not the first time Nooyi has talked about developing snacks for women. When she spoke with Coins2Day at the end of August, Nooyi said it was a category she felt was ripe for disruption:
You want something that fits in your bag, but that doesn’t break or clutter your bag. Or when you open it’s not stuck with your memo pad and pen and all that stuff. You want it to be pristine for 2 o’clock when you’re hungry. What is a purse-friendly snack that doesn’t stick to the teeth? I’ll go so far as to say all purse manufacturers like the Apple iPhone should design a little leather pouch you can stick into your purse for your snack.
Nooyi told Coins2Day that this approach “requires reframing the snack category.” She also pointed to hot beverages and products that are “glocal”—both global and local—as areas in need of a fresh look.
PepsiCo put out a statement at the end of the day on Monday, saying, “We already have Doritos for women—they’re called Doritos, and they’re enjoyed by millions of people every day. At the same time, we know needs and preferences continue to evolve and we’re always looking for new ways to engage and delight our consumers.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with a statement from PepsiCo.